Thanksgiving should be about spending the joy of having time with your family, eating turkey and watching football and parades. You shouldn’t be worrying about the safety and security of your home while you are away!

Here are 5 tips to make sure your home stays safe while you are traveling this Thanksgiving.

1. Put a hold on your mail & newspapers.

When there are stacks of mail and a pile of newspapers sitting on your front porch and driveway, it is one of the main indicators to burglars that you aren’t home. If you don’t want to put them on hold, see if a neighbor can collect them for you while you are away.

2. Install a home security system.

Knowing that your home is under 24-hour surveillance, is locked up, and secure can relieve a lot of your worries. You can rest assured that your home and belongings are safe with this technology and many of them offer mobile access these days so that you can even check while you are away traveling.

3. Set your lights to turn on with timers.

A dark house can show others that your house is vacant. Setting some of your lights on timers to go on and off throughout the night is a great way to avoid the appearance that you are away from your home.

4. Be careful with social media.

As fun as it is to share your holiday celebration on Facebook and Twitter, don’t go into detail about your travel plans. Social media can be dangerous, even when your privacy settings are turned on. Once you post information, it’s out there and impossible to control everyone it is shared with.

5. Turn the ringer down.

If you have a home phone, make sure that you turn the volume of the ringer down or off altogether. Then nobody outside will be able to hear the phone ringing repeatedly and going unanswered, tipping them off that you are not at home.

At United Security Services, we know how important is to keep your family and the home you’ve worked so hard to build secure, so we are committed to serving homeowner associations to keep you safe!